Coconut-Curry Tomato Bisque with Cumin Chicken, Fennel-Apple Relish and Garam Masala Crema

This is the other soup recipe that I devised utilizing the fennel-apple relish. The base for this soup started out as a Mulligatawny soup recipe from an old Readers Digest cook book I had many years ago. My mom and I have both made that soup for years but I decided to update it and bring some new flavors to the table. It's just amazing how creative you can get with a simple soup recipe! You can omit the chicken entirely and just add a little cumin to the relish and I doubt you'd miss it. I happen to have some left over chicken so I used it. This turned out to be a beautiful soup with many contrasts in flavor as well as texture. This is my soul food. Enjoy! 

Coconut-Curry Tomato Bisque with Cumin Chicken, Fennel-Apple Relish and Garam Masala Crema

Ingredients
For the Crema

sour cream or creme fraiche (Greek yogurt also works nicely)
garam masala, to taste
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted and ground


1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted, for garnish

For the Soup
4 T. Butter
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery with leaves, diced
1 poblano pepper, diced
1 apple, peeled and diced
1/3 cup flour
1 tablespoon curry powder
1-2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
5 cups of stock, broth or water
1 cup Thai coconut milk
1 cup canned or fresh plum tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper to taste

For the Chicken
2-3 cups cooked and shredded chicken
1 teaspoon cumin, ground
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

For the Relish
1 large fennel bulb, diced
1 apple, peeled and diced
2 large shallots, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter

Directions
For the Crema

Mix sour cream with garam masala, and toasted and ground fennel seeds. Make this an hour or so before serving so the flavors can meld. Keep chilled. Add salt and pepper if desired.


In the same skillet you toasted the fennel seeds, toast the sliced almonds. Set aside and use to garnish soup.

For the Soup

In a 2-3 quart pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, poblano pepper and apple. Saute until vegetables are crisp-tender. Sprinkle flour over vegetables and mix well. Cook 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Puree in a blender or food processor. An immersion blender is easiest if you have one.

For the Chicken
In a saute pan, heat olive oil. Add chicken, cumin and salt and pepper to taste. Saute just until chicken is heated through. Transfer to a bowl and keep warm.

For the Relish
In the same saute pan, heat olive oil and butter. Add fennel, apple and shallots. Saute until crisp-tender.

To Serve
Ladle soup into bowls. Top with chicken, then the relish. Spoon a little crema on top and garnish with the toasted almonds.